ANOTHER RIGHT WING NUT-CASE, DAN LUNGREN GETS A CHALLENGER-- WELCOME BILL DURSTON, MD & VIETNAM WAR VET

Dan Lungren is probably the most extremist right-winger among a pretty disreputable batch of California Republican loons. While other lockstep rightists in the California delegation voted between 92% and 96% with indicted ex-Republican crime boss leader Tom DeLay, Lungren voted 99% with DeLay. There's a man who has no trouble making up his mind (since he doesn't have one of his own). A few weeks ago I was asking why there wasn't a good Democrat running against this whacko. Well, thanks to Matt from Pomboville for turning me on the answer. An emergency room doctor and much-admired Northern California activist, Bill Durston, has filed to run against Lungren in the 3rd CD.

This is a very red district-- the current loon having won by 62% last time-- but Durston is the right man to give him a real battle. A former Vietnam veteran, Durston says he is "saddened to see our country involved in another war started on false pretenses. Like many other veterans, I support the sacrifices our troops are making, but I don't support sacrificing our troops. I will work toward a prompt but orderly withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and replacement of U.S. forces by a truly international security force." His views on the so-called "War on Terrorism" also show that, unlike Lungren, he isn't suckered by the Bush/neo-con nutty agenda. "History shows that conventional military force is not only ineffective, but counter-productive in combating terrorism. The Bush Administration's belligerent military response to the September 11 terrorist attacks has created more terrorists than it has eliminated, and security in our own country has been weakened by deployment of reservists and diversion of resources abroad. We need to adopt a smarter approach to terrorism that includes international cooperation, better coordination of intelligence, and addressing the root causes of terrorism. The Bush Administration has scorned international law, the Geneva Convention, and the U.S. Constitution. I will work to restore democracy within our own country and to restore our country's tarnished image abroad."

Everything I read about Durston tells me he's a thoughtful grassroots progressive who would make a great congressman. A working physician-- rather than a big pharma pawn operative like "Dr" Frist-- Durston is particularly interested in health care. He believes that access to necessary health care "is a basic human right, not a privilege based on one's ability to pay. Throughout my career as an emergency physician, I have provided the best possible care to patients without regard to their financial status. As a U.S. Representative, I will continue to be a patient advocate."

With progressive grassroots positions like Durston's, it's reasonable to assume Rahm Emanuel will find some corporate shill to fight him tooth and nail. Boss Emanuel, like Lieberman, won't put up with any challengers opposing Bush's war in Iraq.

Bill grew up in what is now known as the Silicon Valley. He was president and valedictorian of his high school class. Rather than go directly on to college, though, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines at the height of the Vietnam war. He served in Vietnam with the Marines 3rd Force Reconnaissance Company, and he received the Navy Commendation medal for bravery under combat. Uh oh-- an American hero; someone call the Republican swift boaters so they can start the smear campaign! After completing his military service, he graduated first in his class in Biochemistry at U.C. Berkeley and entered Medical School at the University of California, San Francisco, where he was a Regent's Scholar. He is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine and has practiced in Sacramento for over 20 years, where, among other things he served as Chief of the Kaiser, South Sacramento Emergency Department from 1985-1989. He helped found the UC Davis/Kaiser Emergency Medicine Residency in 1989. More recently, he served as Injury Prevention Chairperson of the California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians (Cal/ACEP) from 2000 to present. He has helped craft state legislation related to injury prevention, and he has testified on numerous occasions before committees of the California State Legislature. He received a special Cal/ACEP Injury Prevention Award in 2002 for service to the people of California. He was President of the Sacramento Physicians for Social Responsibility from 2003 until he stepped down to run against the reactionary Lungren.